I & Anor, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Court of Appeal - Administrative Court, May 27, 2005, [2005] EWHC 1025 (Admin)

Extract

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I & Anor, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Court of Appeal - Administrative Court, May 27, 2005, [2005] EWHC 1025 (Admin)

Case No: CO/352/05 & CO/355/05

Neutral Citation Number: [2005] EWHC 1025 (Admin)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

QUEENS BENCH DIVISION

(ADMINISTRATIVE COURT)

Royal Courts of Justice

Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

Friday, 27 May 2005

Before :

THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE OWEN

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Between :

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(Transcript of the Handed Down Judgment of

Smith Bernal Wordwave Limited, 190 Fleet Street

London EC4A 2AG

Tel No: 020 7421 4040, Fax No: 020 7831 8838

Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)

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Nicholas Blake QC and Charlotte Kilroy (instructed by Leigh Day & Co) for the Claimant

Miss Jennifer Richards (instructed by Treasury Solicitor) for the Defendant

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Judgment

THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE OWEN :

1. INTRODUCTION

The claimants, I and O are asylum seekers. The claimant I was detained by police on 14 January 2005 at Ramsgate railway station. He claimed to have been born on 3 March 1988 and therefore to be 16 years of age. O arrived in the UK on 9 January 2005. He subsequently claimed asylum asserting that his date of birth was 25 December 1988, and that he was therefore also 16 years of age. But in both cases it was not accepted by the Immigration Authorities that the claimants were 16 years of age, and both were therefore detained at Oakington Detention Centre (Oakington). Age assessments of both claimants were then carried out by a Consultant Paediatrician, Dr Michie, through the agency of their representatives, Refugee Legal Centre (RLC). Dr Michie concluded that in I's case his age was consistent with a date of birth in March 1988, and in O's case that his age was consistent with a date of birth in December 1988. Following the receipt of Dr Michie's reports, the Secretary of State continued to treat both claimants as adults, and continued to detain them in Oakington. The age of both claimants was subsequently assessed at under 18 by Cambridgeshire Social Services Department (CSS), an assessment that was accepted by the Secretary of State resulting in their release into the care of CSS. I and O now challenge the decision of the Secretary of State to continue to detain them as adults for the period between his receipt of the report...

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